--- title: "Codebase learning planner" type: "skill" url: "https://useaiblocks.com/skills/codebase-learning-map" updated: "2026-10-28" first_published: "2026-10-25" job: "Study and check your understanding" tested: true licence: "MIT" source: "https://github.com/yugash007/edu-agent-skills/tree/e75f44303570bb2eae37a8f7536c0358be2502ee/skills/onboarding/repo-understand" instructions: "https://useaiblocks.com/skills/codebase-learning-map/SKILL.md" --- # Codebase learning planner > Turn a code folder into a study map. Get ordered phases, what to know first and 2 or 3 paths that fit your goal and level. Give it a code folder, its main guide and your learning goal. It maps the lessons and features, checks what you need to know first and suggests routes. You get an ordered study map and a choice of starting paths. Free skill for the job "Study and check your understanding" · Level: beginner · Thinking: medium · Tested · Updated 2026-10-28 ## Links - Page: https://useaiblocks.com/skills/codebase-learning-map - Instructions (SKILL.md): https://useaiblocks.com/skills/codebase-learning-map/SKILL.md - All files (zip): https://useaiblocks.com/skills/codebase-learning-map.zip - JSON version: https://useaiblocks.com/skills/codebase-learning-map.json - In your AI: connect https://useaiblocks.com/mcp and ask "Use AI Blocks to get codebase-learning-map" ## What it does Give it a code folder, its main guide and your learning goal. It maps the lessons and features, checks what you need to know first and suggests routes. You get an ordered study map and a choice of starting paths. ## What you give it - A repository and its main guide or course outline. - Your goal and current level. ## What you get - An ordered map of learning phases. - A list of prerequisites and likely sticking points. - Two or three study paths with tradeoffs. ## Example: what goes in and what comes out ### What goes in - Your code folder or its file list - The main guide, such as the README or course outline - Your goal for learning it - Your current level (optional) ### Before you start - An AI that can read your folder or the files you paste in ### What comes out - **Repo type**: Whether the folder is built around lessons, a project, reference material or a mix. - **Your goal and level**: What you want from the folder and where you start, as your AI understood it. - **Phase table**: The phases in order, with what you can do after each one. - **Prerequisite list**: What you need to know first for each phase, and where learners often get stuck. - **Study paths**: Two or three routes that fit your goal, with the tradeoffs and effort of each. - **Checkpoint question**: One question that helps you pick a path before any teaching starts. ## Skip it when - You want one task done in a codebase, like fixing a bug. Ask your AI for that task directly. - You want to learn a topic with no code folder. Ask your AI for a study plan on that topic instead. - You already know the order and want a lesson on one idea. Ask your AI to teach that idea. ## How to use it 1. Open Claude, ChatGPT or Gemini. Pick one that can read files or a pasted folder. 2. Paste this skill into the chat. 3. Add your code folder or its file list, plus the README or course outline. 4. Say what you want to learn and your level. 5. Read the phase table and the paths. Answer the checkpoint question to pick a path. 6. Ask your AI to start teaching only after you have chosen. ## What to do next - [Study gap tracker](https://useaiblocks.com/skills/study-gap-tracker): Study gap tracker - [Study notebook reviewer](https://useaiblocks.com/skills/study-notebook-review): Study notebook reviewer - [Learning session handover writer](https://useaiblocks.com/skills/learning-session-handoff): Learning session handover writer - [Skill progression map builder](https://useaiblocks.com/skills/skill-progression-map-builder): Skill progression map builder - [Overloaded lesson checker](https://useaiblocks.com/skills/overloaded-lesson-checker): Overloaded lesson checker ## Sources and credits - From edu-agent-skills contributors: https://github.com/yugash007/edu-agent-skills/tree/e75f44303570bb2eae37a8f7536c0358be2502ee/skills/onboarding/repo-understand, shared under the MIT licence (original name: repo-understand). - [repo-understand skill](https://github.com/yugash007/edu-agent-skills/tree/e75f44303570bb2eae37a8f7536c0358be2502ee/skills/onboarding/repo-understand), edu-agent-skills contributors: Copied under the MIT licence. We gave it a plain name. We added Before you start and After this sections that link to other AI Blocks steps. ## Instructions (SKILL.md) ## Purpose Create a reliable curriculum map before deep teaching. Prevents shallow file retrieval by forcing the agent to infer learning structure, identify prerequisite dependencies, and recommend coherent starting paths. ## Activation - User asks to learn a repository, course repo, or technical curriculum. User asks "where should I start?" in a multi-module repo. Agent hasn't established module sequence and prerequisites. - **Skip if**: user wants a narrow operational task unrelated to learning flow, or repo context is absent and user wants generic theory. - **Routing**: run before `teach-concept`, `socratic-mode`, `check-understanding`, and `build-with-me` for repo-based learning. ## Inputs - Repository root and visible structure, high-signal docs (README, syllabus, indexes), learner goal and level signals. ## Workflow 1. **Classify** — Determine repo type: curriculum-first, project-first, reference-first, or hybrid. Identify learning artifacts (lessons, labs, projects, checkpoints). 2. **Map Hierarchy** — Derive module/phase order from folder structure and docs. Produce a phase map with outcomes per phase. 3. **Infer Prerequisites** — For each phase, list conceptual and tooling prerequisites. Mark dependency edges between phases. 4. **Estimate Progression** — Foundational → applied → advanced. Identify transition points where learners often stall. 5. **Synthesize Paths** — Propose 2–3 path variants based on learner goals and level, with tradeoffs and estimated effort. 6. **Checkpoint** — Ask one decision-forcing question to select a path. Do not start deep instruction before the learner selects or confirms. ## Rules - DO: require a phase map before any deep explanation. - DO: explain why sequence matters, not just what modules exist. - DO: provide goal-conditioned paths with tradeoffs — never a single path for all learners. - DO: surface uncertainty explicitly when repo signals are weak. - DON'T: quote random files without structural context. - DON'T: recommend advanced topics before prerequisite chain is visible. - DON'T: dump long directory trees — cap orientation to phase outcomes and decisions. - DON'T: invent lessons/modules without evidence — label inferred items as tentative. ## Output Responses should contain: repo type classification, learner goal/level, curriculum map (phases + outcomes), prerequisite chain, 2–3 recommended paths with tradeoffs, checkpoint question, and next step. Format naturally. ## Checklist - [ ] Curriculum map includes ordered phases and outcomes. - [ ] Prerequisite chain is explicit. - [ ] At least two goal-conditioned paths provided. - [ ] Checkpoint question asked before deep teaching begins. ### Before you start Use the material below to do this job. If facts or tool access are missing, explain what you can finish and what must wait. **What you need** (use your own material or the linked skill): - **A codebase** (yours): a project's code, in a folder or repo the AI can open. - **Your question** (yours): the decision or problem, and what a good outcome looks like. How to start: 1. **Look first.** Use what they've already attached, pasted or put in their about-me note. In a coding assistant with file access, look in the project too for these by name. 2. **Check what's missing.** Look for a codebase, your question. They can attach files, paste the details, or share a file path your assistant can read. Ask only for missing facts that change the result. If they ask you to start with what they have, complete the parts you can and mark the gaps. 3. **Do the job.** Follow the skill below with the facts and tools you have. Mark each gap with `MISSING:` where it belongs and never invent a fact to fill it. ### After this When you've handed it back, suggest what they could do next in one short question. It's a suggestion: if they're done, that's fine. Offer these, and say they can type their own: - The [Study gap tracker](https://useaiblocks.com/skills/study-gap-tracker). It takes the document. - The [Study notebook reviewer](https://useaiblocks.com/skills/study-notebook-review). It takes the document. - The [Learning session handover writer](https://useaiblocks.com/skills/learning-session-handoff). It takes the document. - The [Skill progression map builder](https://useaiblocks.com/skills/skill-progression-map-builder). It takes the document. - The [Overloaded lesson checker](https://useaiblocks.com/skills/overloaded-lesson-checker). It takes the plan. If they pick one and that skill is added here, carry straight on with what you just made. If not, give the link and say what to bring.